Here in the West, the MMO studios are struggling, but two companies in South Korea are becoming so rich with online games that they are bursting at the seams. Netmarble (Lineage 2 Revolution) and Pearl Abyss (Black Desert) are building massive new headquarters and spending millions of US dollars.
Which studios are rolling in money? In Korea, there has been a huge shift from PC to mobile for some years now. The two MMO giants there, Nexon and NCSoft, are slowly making this transition – both companies were leaders in South Korea for years on PC.
Netmarble has developed games like Lineage 2 Revolution, Marvel Future Fight, and Dragon Ball Online. They have been rolling in money for years.
The second hit studio in South Korea is currently Pearl Abyss, the company behind Black Desert. They made so much money with the mobile version of Black Desert Online in Asia, that they were able to buy the company behind EVE Online.
Both are currently constructing new headquarters in South Korea, as MMO Culture reports. This is based on Korean media reports.
This is how the new research center of Netmarble is supposed to look. Image source: MMO-Culture
This is what Netmarble is currently building: Netmarble is investing 180 million US dollars to construct a new development building outside of Seoul. The building will cover 6 underground floors and 15 above-ground floors.
Here they want to house some of their teams and also create space for IT startups. Netmarble wants to conduct research on artificial intelligence and “Big Data Analysis” here. But that’s just the “annex.”
Additionally, they have spent 364 million US dollars on a new headquarters in the “Guro District” in Seoul. This is supposed to feature 39 floors.
In this area, the technology center is supposed to be located. Image source: MMO Culture
This is how the new headquarters of Pearl Abyss is supposed to be: Pearl Abyss is also building a headquarters in the Guro District of Seoul.
The land alone costs 21.3 million US dollars. They are spending 156 million dollars for the new headquarters.
This is how the headquarters of Pearl Abyss is supposed to look. (Image source: MMO Culture).
According to reports, the success of Black Desert and Black Desert Mobile has led to enormous expansion, including in the workforce. Therefore, a new headquarters is needed. This will have 5 underground floors and 15 above-ground floors.
In Fortnite there is a new update coming today for Patch 7.10. We already know a lot about what will be included in the update. “Early Patch Notes” reveal: There will be changes to the Boombox, the X-4 plane, and Dynamite. The “Dual Pistols” return from the vault.
When will the update arrive today? As Epic has announced, the update will be released today, on 8th January, at 2:00 PM German time (8 AM EST).
A downtime is not planned. However, it is expected that Fortnite may disable matchmaking a few minutes prior.
What else is in the patch? Although there are no official patch notes for the update yet, gameplay designer Eric Williamson has revealed some balance updates (via Twitter):
What else can we expect? If at least two weapons come to Fortnite, some current weapons are likely to disappear.
Additionally, there will surely be new cosmetic items again. With much more, not much can be expected. Today’s patch is one of three small updates that Fortnite planned for the days around New Year’s.
Currently, Fortnite is running the return of the “14 Days of Fortnite” event with all 14 rewards.
Final Fantasy XIV has had a photo mode for some time and continues to expand the option. The latest addition allows players to use different emotes in this mode, among other things.
What is /gpose? The group pose or short /gpose is a feature in FFXIV, that allows players to take particularly cinematic screenshots. By using the chat command “/gpose”, players gain access to a special interface that enables them to utilize different functions of the feature.
For example, you can:
Apply color filters over the screen
Change brightness as desired
Make the character perform an emote or freeze in a desired pose
Try different frames
What’s new? With the upcoming patch 4.5, which will be online on January 8, the friends of /gpose will get new options. In the first place, players will be able to use this feature when their character has been “transformed” into something else, for example, into another character during an event.
Although it was already possible for players to use various emotes within the Gpose feature, they had to leave the /gpose window if they wanted to use another emote. That is now over, as the photo mode will get a new special menu window that enables the switching of emotes directly within the photo mode.
It will also be possible starting with patch 4.5 to give the screenshot more depth by adjusting the focus and thus blurring the foreground or background.
Is /gpose even used? A photo feature may sound like a fleeting fun, but in Final Fantasy XIV the community has turned it into a real art form. Players post their screenshots on social media and forums every day. There are entire Instagram and Twitter profiles with hundreds of followers dedicated to creating cool pictures.
To support the popular feature, third-party tools have also been developed that function like overlays and, for example, allow adjusting the color saturation or sharpness of a screenshot. Even though their legality is rather questionable.
Regular online magazines like GPosers, created by fans, deal extensively with the topic and are very popular in the community. The “gPose pros” reveal many tricks regarding which functions are available for /Gpose and which settings in third-party tools yield the best results.
The new features for /gpose will certainly be used well and frequently in the future.
One week after patch 4.5, the new limited job Blue Mage will also be released:
About the choice of the right perks for all situations is passionately debated in Destiny 2. We clarify once and for all whether Kill Clip or Rampage should be on your weapon and what works particularly well for the Crucible.
What exactly is being debated? Since the release of the Destiny 2 expansion Forsaken, Guardians can finally find Random Rolls, meaning weapons with randomly rolled perks. Since then, Guardians have been discussing the best weapon rolls, also known as God Rolls.
In these debates, the perks Kill Clip and Rampage almost always come up, which many Guardians consider to be the best perks in the game, as they can significantly increase your weapon’s damage output. Since in 99% of cases, only Kill Clip or Rampage can be rolled on a weapon, the same question always arises: Which perk is better?
We analyze what the abilities actually do and why there is no clear answer to the question of the best perk. As a bonus, we also shed light on what makes the perk Headseeker unique and why it is so bad. But let’s start!
This is what the perk Kill Clip does: According to the ability description, you deal increased damage when you reload after a kill. So far, so good. What does this mean in concrete terms?
Typical of Bungie, most descriptions in the game are not very helpful. Fortunately, there are clever Guardians who test the numbers behind such perks and publish them.
Verflossen – a perfect example of the perk Kill Clip
What’s particularly interesting is the fact that both Rampage and Kill Clip perform differently between PvE and PvP content. This is due to an update from Bungie in March 2018, which increased the damage buff for both perks when fighting against AI-controlled enemies.
The specific numbers for Kill Clip are as follows:
PvE – After reloading after a kill, you deal 53% more damage for 5 seconds
PvP – After reloading after a kill, you deal 33% more damage for 5 seconds
After a kill, you have about 3 seconds to complete the reload before Kill Clip becomes ineffective. If you land a kill while Kill Clip is active, reloading again will not grant a new buff. You must wait for Kill Clip to expire before you can benefit from the perk again.
What’s interesting is the significant difference in damage between PvE and PvP. However, the difference is even more pronounced with the Rampage perk.
What does the Rampage perk do? The description states that kills temporarily deal more damage. The perk can be stacked up to three times. Again, quite cryptic. However, the exact numbers behind it have also been discovered and are as follows:
PvE – After a kill, you receive the Rampage buff for 3.5 seconds. With one stack (i.e., one kill), you deal 21% more damage; with 2 kills and 2 stacks, it is already 43%, and with 3 stacks, it’s a hefty 65% increased damage.
PvP – Also in the Crucible, the Rampage perk activates for 3.5 seconds, however, the damage bonuses are significantly lower. For each stack, you gain 10% additional damage, resulting in a maximum of 30% damage increase. Other sources report 11% per stack, which is likely due to rounding differences.
The great advantage of Rampage is that you can maintain the buff consistently at x3 as long as you continue to eliminate enemies within the 3.5 seconds. Each kill resets the timer.
However, the differences in damage between PvE and PvP are stark. You lose more than 30% in the Crucible compared to PvE.
Now that we’ve clarified what the perks do, let’s move on to the comparison. What is better? One hint can be made here: It is NOT Headseeker.
What does the Headseeker perk do? The description of the perk sounds appealing. It increases precision damage after body shots. What sounds like a great perk is, upon closer inspection, a dud.
To understand this, let’s look at the exact numbers, which are also identical between PvE and PvP content on pulse rifles:
Body shots increase precision damage by 10%
This buff is not increased if multiple shots hit the body before landing a precision shot. Whether you aim one or two shots of a volley at the body, the bonus remains 10%
Cannot be stacked – the effect is limited to a single volley
This is why the Headseeker perk is a total waste: If you fire a volley from your pulse rifle and hit the body first, subsequent projectiles will deal 10% more damage on a precision hit. This is absurd since precision shots deal significantly more damage.
Sounds weird? It is. Even if you are not the best shots, Kill Clip or Rampage are always the better choice. Headseeker increases damage only marginally and does not improve the time taken to take down another Guardian in the Crucible.
Or to put it bluntly: Hit all shots critically and you will ALWAYS deal more damage than if you have to activate Headseeker through body shots first.
The answer: Both! In fact, both perks are among the best in Destiny 2, but shine in different disciplines. In the Crucible, Kill Clip is the best choice, while with Rampage you can best kick the aliens in the butt.
This is why Kill Clip is the better choice in the Crucible: The reasons why you should rely on Kill Clip in combat against other Guardians are manifold:
With Kill Clip, you have a larger time window in which you deal increased damage, namely 8 seconds (3 seconds reload time + 5 seconds Kill Clip). So if a new enemy does not appear immediately, you can time the buff. With Rampage, you have exactly 3.5 seconds; then it’s over.
This means that with Kill Clip, you can first take cover and regenerate, which is not possible with Rampage.
When activating Kill Clip, you have a full magazine available since you must reload to activate the perk. If you have to reload first with the active Rampage buff, your time is almost up.
The damage bonus with Kill Clip is significantly higher. As long as you don’t achieve a triple stack with Rampage (which is extremely difficult in the Crucible), Kill Clip always deals more damage.
Kill Clip offers fantastic synergies. Pulse rifles like the Verflossen or the Crown Speech become true monsters with Kill Clip, as you only need two volleys to take down a Guardian with full health. This direct effect rarely occurs due to the lower damage bonus of Rampage.
Are there exceptions to this rule? Of course, there may be situations where Rampage is the better choice. For example, at Ada-1, you can acquire a mod that extends the Rampage perk by a whole second. However, this comes at the expense of other useful mods like Targeting Adjuster or an extended magazine.
Titans with the one-eyed mask do not necessarily need to regenerate health after a fight. The overshield generated by the helmet allows Titans to dive right back into the fray and thus benefit from the Rampage perk.
In general, it can be stated that Kill Clip is almost always the better choice in the Crucible compared to Rampage. The situation is different in PvE content.
This is why you should use the Rampage perk in PvE: Now that we have established that Kill Clip is the better choice in the Crucible, let’s take a look at PvE content. Ultimately, Rampage proves to be a significantly better alternative for several reasons:
The damage bonus with a threefold stack of Rampage is better than with Kill Clip (65% vs. 53%). More damage = more fun!
In front of you, you get significantly more aliens than Guardians. The easier it is to maintain the triple Rampage buff. Combined with a reloading perk like Outlaw, you could theoretically sustain the Rampage buff indefinitely.
To trigger Kill Clip, you need to reload; Rampage works all the time and immediately.
In summary, Rampage is the better choice in PvE because you encounter more enemies and can thus benefit from the buff for longer. Additionally, the damage bonus compared to Kill Clip is higher.
One thing is for sure: If you find a weapon with the combination of Kill Clip / Rampage along with a perk for faster reloading, you hold a jewel in your hand that you shouldn’t dismantle casually. Unless it has Headseeker on it, then you are out of luck.
Players in Atlas are currently facing a problem: There are hardly any free spaces to build on the official servers. Grapeshot Games is responding with a simple solution.
What is the problem? New players must leave the starting zones upon reaching level 8. They can start building their own base on another island. Shortly after the launch of Atlas, the first complaints surfaced. Even after hours of searching, players found no available building areas.
Large clans claim the entire world of Atlas.
Patch coming: Grapeshot Games has taken player feedback into account and is solving the annoying problem with the update 10.0. All occupied areas will automatically be converted to neutral zones. This also allows other players to build in these areas.
Claim owners can charge taxes at their claim flag or close the neutral zone. If taxes are collected, other players must give up a portion of their resources when gathering. Update 10.0 will be deployed on our end on Tuesday evening, but the changes to the claims will only take effect on January 9.
This is what the players are saying: The problem is being actively discussed in the Atlas subreddit. User _Moxy writes: “My small group has been looking for a building spot for four days and we find nothing.” EdScrubLord vents his frustration: “The fact that EVERY ISLAND is COMPLETELY occupied by a random group is absurd in my opinion.” Both receive a lot of support on Reddit.
A little cheat is causing a stir in World of Warcraft. Currently, record after record is being broken in a dungeon – even at the highest difficulties.
If you have been following the race for the best times in the various dungeons of World of Warcraft, you must have been quite amazed in the last few days. Because in the “Shrine of Sethraliss”, the times are currently dropping by several minutes while facing difficulties over Mythic+20.
But the answer is simpler: A small exploit is currently leading to record times.
What exploit is being used? In the dungeon “Shrine of Sethraliss”, there is a small error that many players are taking advantage of. If one completes the dungeon first on the “normal mythic” difficulty and then switches to “Mythic+” mode, all doors of the dungeon remain open!
The players take advantage of this and run through the entire dungeon in one go to the final boss, where they then let themselves die and get resurrected right before the boss. Now they fight the final boss until the last phase.
Players receive a buff here, causing them to take 90% less damage and have 50% more speed. Instead of winning the boss fight, they keep one enemy “in combat” and start clearing through the entire dungeon “from the back”.
Since they hardly take any damage (the 90% buff remains active), all fights are easy to manage and present no challenge anymore.
No statement from Blizzard yet: So far, there has been no report from Blizzard regarding this error. Whether this is still to be understood as “exploiting game mechanics” is likely to be up for discussion. However, we recommend not to use this “mechanic”, as it could lead to account penalties in the worst case.
This is how you stay informed: Do you want to miss no news and articles about World of Warcraft? Then give a like to our WoW Facebook page!
Anyone who wants to play Anthem on PC needs a powerful computer. The system requirements have now been revealed.
In a little more than a month, Anthem, the new coop shooter from BioWare, will be released. Anyone who has marveled at the trailers in recent days is likely to have been quite impressed by the graphical splendor.
But so much beauty comes at a price. Anthem is likely to bring many mid-range computers to their knees, and anyone who has been “unhappy with their setup” for a few years should consider an upgrade.
If you want to experience more than just the minimum, you need a significantly more current computer, as Anthem is quite demanding. The following components are recommended to experience Anthem in all its glory:
Operating System: Windows 10 (64 bit) CPU: Intel Core i7-4790 3.6 GHz or AMD Ryzen 3 1300X 3.5 GHz Memory (RAM): 16 GB Graphics Card (GPU): Nvidia GTX 1060 / RTX 2060, AMD RX 480 Graphics Memory: 4 GB Hard Drive Space: at least 50 GB DirectX: DirectX 11
Can your PC run Anthem? Do you need new hardware for the launch of the game? Or will you be playing Anthem on PS4 or Xbox One?
Stay informed: If you don’t want to miss any news about Anthem, follow our Anthem Facebook page!
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Blizzard has released a new Overwatch short story that gave fans exactly what they wanted to read. Another character is homosexual.
Without much notice, the Overwatch Twitter account released a new short story. “Bastet” tells of the encounter between Ana and Jack Morrison, also known as Soldier: 76. Both thought the other had died. They discuss their past and during the conversation, a spicy detail comes to light: Soldier: 76 is gay.
What is the short story about? The story takes place right after the comic “Old Soldiers” and primarily focuses on conversations between Soldier: 76 and Ana. While discussing the past, Ana looks through some photos of Soldier: 76 and discovers one she didn’t know. It shows Jack with a man named Vincent. The conversation then reveals that Vincent was Jack’s great love.
But with the revelation of Jack Morrison’s sexuality came the tragic disclosure that the love would never be fulfilled. Vincent has since married another man and seems to be quite happy. “Touchy subject,” as Ana aptly remarks.
Developer confirms once again: For some fans, these hints were not enough, and they wanted clarity. Story developer Michael Chu (and author of the story) confirmed on Twitter once more:
“Jack and Vincent were in a romantic relationship. Both identify as gay.”
You can read the story here: Anyone wanting to read the short story “Bastet” in full can do so here in German and here in English. The reading is definitely worth it, as aside from the topic of Jack’s sexuality, the story is full of humor and shows a more playful side of Soldier: 76 that is rarely seen in Overwatch itself. Additionally, Reinhardt often serves as a negative example for just about everything.
How the community reacts: On social media, Overwatch fans have predominantly reacted positively so far. For years they have been wondering who the “gay” character could be. That it is now precisely Soldier: 76 and thereby both “cover” heroes of Overwatch are homosexual (as Tracer is also), apparently brings a lot of joy, as some tweets show:
What do you think of this story revelation about Soldier: 76? Are you positive or negative towards this matter?
The year 2019 has begun and with it come many new MMOs, multiplayer games, and expansions. We want to know which ones you are looking forward to the most!
New year, new games! 2019 holds many new beta tests, early accesses, and releases. Many gamers have been waiting for several of them for years, while others were only announced in 2018.
Among the new MMORPGs, promising games like Crowfall and Ascent: Infinite Realm are getting closer. However, the current Korean hit Lost Ark is slowly moving towards the West, with a secure release in Russia and much positive feedback from players. PvP fans, on the other hand, are getting new food with Ashes of Creation.
Looter shooters in 2019: The two big names in 2019 in this genre are The Division 2 and Anthem. Especially Anthem is hyped by many gamers after the first alpha test and has more tests ahead in January.
Although things are quieter around The Division 2, the Tom Clancy shooter still has a solid fan base that is looking forward to the continuation of Division 1.
There is just a short month between the releases of the two games, making it an exciting race for the players’ interest.
Which upcoming MMO has got you really excited? Are you looking forward to completely new titles like Anthem and Crowfall or rather expansions like FFXIV: Shadowbringers? Or are there completely different multiplayer games that you absolutely want to play in 2019? Let us know!
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In Fortnite, it is now official: The next new weapon is the suppressed sniper rifle. Dataminers had already discovered the sniper beforehand, and the community is excitedly discussing it. The weapon could come in the new patch tomorrow.
This is the next weapon in Fortnite: As Epic informs via the launcher, the next weapon is the “Suppressed Sniper Rifle.”
The text on the weapon states: “Eliminate your enemies silently with this suppressed bolt-action sniper rifle.”
The weapon could be in the update 7.10.3 tomorrow
When will the weapon come? The weapon is expected to arrive on Tuesday, January 8, 2019. Then, the patch 7.10 Content Update #3 will take place. This is the third and final of three interim updates that Epic wants to provide to fill the time between the holidays.
What can the new weapon do? Dataminers discovered the “Suppressed Sniper Rifle” in Fortnite’s code on Friday. They assume that the weapon is much quieter than the other sniper rifles. This could make it difficult, but not impossible, to track down a shooter.
The new battle royale weapon is apparently inspired by a weapon from “Save the World.”
According to the datamining site Stormshield, the weapon will be available in purple and gold. The damage will then be 100 (epic) and 105 (legendary).
This is how players are reacting: The weapon is being actively discussed on reddit. Some players are already fearful, as with every new weapon, and believe that the silent sniper rifle will completely disrupt balance in Fortnite.
Many believe that an old “sniper rifle” will be vaulted for the new weapon, meaning it won’t be actively used in Fortnite anymore. There would be hardly any justification for the “regular” bolt-action sniper rifle.
Some are already painting horror scenarios of invisible death snipers playing “death from above” with balloons. After all, new weapons are notoriously “too common” to find in Fortnite.
Others hope that the new sniper might bring back the bush.
Still others are plagued by self-doubt and say: Definitely a weapon I’ll never pick up again after the first time. I’m just a terrible shot.
You will find everything about the new patch and what it contains at MeinMMO. Probably already Tuesday morning.
In some areas of Overwatch, there is currently a tank and support-heavy meta, known as the GOATS meta. Many players blame the hero Brigitte for this. Former professional player and streamer Seagull claims that it’s only because of Tracer.
This is the situation: Many players complain that Overwatch is currently boring. The meta is too undemanding and requires only a few heroes who are part of the current “GOATS meta”.
Most players blame Brigitte for this situation.
What has happened? Former professional player for the Overwatch League team Dallas Fuel and now streamer Brandon “Seagull” Larned sees Tracer as the cause of the current problems.
Tracer is the reason for the status quo with the GOATS meta, not Brigitte.
That’s why Tracer is to blame for GOATS
This is what Seagull says: According to Seagull, Tracer is the reason for all the problems Overwatch currently has. He specifically talks about the current meta. Tracer has always been too strong.
As the face of Overwatch, she has a special position among the heroes. She has never been nerfed and therefore has always had a place in the meta. In the dive meta, which Overwatch had for the longest time, she was even one of the core roles.
To solve these problems without nerfing Tracer, Blizzard had to create a “monster of a hero” that “somehow has to be stronger than Tracer to counter her.” That’s how they arrived at the point where they are now.
Brigitte is not only there to counter the dive meta, but also specifically to counter Tracer. And with the introduction of Brigitte, the GOATS meta became possible.
Seagull contradicts the prevailing sentiment in the community that Brigitte is the reason for the current issues in the meta.
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InFortnite: Battle Royale you can now collect all missing rewards from the 14 Days of Fortnite event for one more week. What is available and how to get it, you can find out here.
You can still complete all remaining challenges and get the intended gifts in Fortnite.
How long does the event last? You have until January 14, 2019, to complete all remaining tasks. This gives you plenty of time to grab all rewards from the 14 Days of Fortnite away from the holiday rush.
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Which tasks are affected? Tasks you have already completed will remain completed. You can only finish the challenges that are still missing. However, the progress of these will be reset. So if you were only partially completed with certain tasks, you will have to start over.
To ensure you tackle all tasks optimally and immediately know what is available, we have briefly listed all rewards and challenges here.
The Christmas Ornament Spraypaint
What you can win: In the first task, there is a spray logo with a Christmas tree ornament. It says “GG” (Good Game).
What you need to do: This task is very simple; you just need to enter a server in Creative Mode. Your own server is sufficient.
The Christmas Header Image
What you can win: In task two, you receive a header image. Various Christmas skins are battling for supremacy.
What you need to do: You should visit two candy canes in the game. It doesn’t have to be in the same match. You can find out where to find the candy canes here.
The Snowball
What you can win: Here you get a snowball projectile that you can throw at other players.
What you need to do: The task simply requires you to play three matches with friends.
The Snowman Emoticon
What you can win: Here you get an emoticon. It shows a snowman trooper.
What you can win: Here you can get a fancy back bling. It shows a wreath with a machete.
What you need to do: To complete the task, you need to fly through 5 golden rings with an airplane. Where the rings and airplanes are is explained here.
The Nutcracker Header Image
What you can win: Here you can get another header image. It shows the nutcracker during his Christmas preparations.
What you need to do: Here, you need to find six nests with goose eggs. They are often located near water bodies. Or you can check our guide to the locations of the goose eggs.
The Gingerbread Man as a Pet
What you can win: Here you get the coveted gingerbread man as a pet. The little man sits on your back and even dabs! A must-have!
What you need to do: For the gingerbread pet, you have to do a bit more than in the previous tasks. You need to use a Boogie Bomb or a gift a total of 7 times. Since you first need to find these items, it may take some time. You can find out how to do it quickly in our guide to gifts and Boogie Bombs.
The Emote “Take the Elf”
What you can win: Here you get an emote that reminds you of the “Loser Dance” Take the L from Season 3. Only that you are swinging a mistletoe here while dancing.
What you need to do: The task is quite simple. You need to deal damage with a total of 8 different weapons. They do not necessarily have to be different types of weapons, so the task is easier than you think.
The Snow Globe Icon
What you can win: Here you can earn a snow globe icon in the game.
What you need to do: To solve the task, you need to dance in front of 9 different Christmas trees. Where to find the holiday trees can be found here.
The Airplane Spray Logo
What you can win: As a reward for the 10th task, there is a spray paint with an airplane on it.
What you need to do: To complete this task, you need to perform stunts at 10 named locations using a vehicle. You can find out how it works in our guide to tricks with vehicles.
The Pickaxe “Frozen Axe”
What you can win: This time there is a harvesting tool. It is a pickaxe called “The Frozen Axe”.
What you need to do: For this task, you just need patience. You need to thank the bus driver in 11 different matches .
The Snowflake Emoticon
What you can win: As loot, there is a snowflake emoticon that you can then use in the game.
What you need to do: As a challenge, you need to destroy snowflake decorations. You can find where to find the snowflake decorations here.
The Disco Wrap
What you can win: In task 13, there is a cool disco wrap to win. This gives your equipment a groovy shine.
What you need to do: This task is extremely easy. You just need to go into Creative Mode and place a total of 13 random objects. A guide to this creative task is available here.
The Disco Glider “Equalizer”
What you can win: As the final reward, there’s a glider in disco style to win.
The wildlife in Red Dead Redemption 2 is praised by players. But what does someone say who truly knows? A bird expert has taken a closer look at RDR 2.
What is it about? During your adventures as Arthur Morgan in Red Dead Redemption 2, you will inevitably experience how much attention to detail is present in the nature and surroundings. Many different wildlife await you in water, on land, and also in the air. We can only marvel and say: Yes, that is a lot of variety. But a pro might have a completely different opinion.
Do the animals fit into the landscape as they are? Are the birds realistic? Professional birdwatcher Nicholas Lund played Red Dead Redemption 2 and mentions that the developers did a lot right with the birds. But mistakes also crept in.
Are the birds in RDR 2 realistic?
This is what happened: On the website of Audubon.org, Nicholas Lund writes about how he likes the representation of wildlife, especially birds, in Red Dead Redemption 2. With the thought in mind that in RDR 2 everything feels so natural and realistic to the players.
Diversity and details make an impression: Much of his playtime was spent looking for birds. The breadth and relative accuracy of the species portrayed impressed him. He notes that the birds change depending on their habitat. The roseate spoonbill and great egret feed in the bay of Saint Denis. The Western gull and brown booby rest on the coast. In the mountain regions, you encounter eagles and condors.
The natural surprises are particularly well received: Most of all, Lund loved the natural surprises. Once he shot a mallard and left its body at the lakeside. He had already taken the feathers and meat. Ten minutes later, he noticed a red fox coming out of the grass. Along with two turkey vultures, the animals approached the duck. Through his binoculars, he was able to observe the three animals eating the remains of the duck.
These mistakes did RDR 2 make with the birds: In addition to the positive surprises, Lund also noticed a few errors regarding the animals in Red Dead Redemption 2. In addition to the snowy egrets, there are a few small herons in Saint Denis. That would be a really rare sighting in North America. What is referred to as California quail in the game would be a Virginia quail in the real world.
Furthermore, there were initially strong issues with wildlife in RDR 2:
The conclusion of the birdwatcher: Despite the minor naming errors, Lund writes that Red Dead Redemption 2 overall has the best and most comprehensive representation of American birdlife of all video games. There is not even a narrow lead over other titles. In his report (found on audubon.org), he further discusses the realistic hunting in RDR 2.
What do players say about the observations?
On Reddit, the article was diligently rewarded with upvotes.
The world as an important main character: User arborday writes that the article was written just for him. He quotes a part of the article that describes the natural world of RDR 2 as one of the main characters. “This is so true. Honestly, I would have spent much less time in the game if it weren’t for the attention to the natural world of this game. I described it to my wife as something more enjoyable than a camping simulator, rather than a traditional open-world shooter.”
Nature distracts from the story: Player stooner writes “When I got the game, I expected to rob trains, become a bounty hunter, and do a lot of nonsense. The reality now is that I load the game and observe nature. According to my latest save, I’m at 25% progress, but I’ve already clocked 12 hours. Just to relax from a stressful day.”
The animals are impressive: “One thing that excites me most about the natural environment in the game is when animals interact with other animals,” writes maybe_kd. “I saw an eagle catch a snake. I thought, that’s really cool.”
The Team of the Year of FIFA 19 is revealed. Starting today, January 7, strikers can initially be drawn from packs in Ultimate Team.
The “EA Sports Team of the Year” in FUT 19 will be officially revealed between January 7 and . However, initially, as in the TOTY phase of FIFA 18, only the strikers of the TOTY will be available in the packs. After that, the midfielders will follow, and lastly the defenders along with the goalkeeper.
Meanwhile, the votes have been cast, and the voting is over.
This is the Team of the Year
Strikers:
ST: Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus Turin)
MS: Lionel Messi (FC Barcelona)
RF: Kylian Mbappé (Paris Saint Germain)
Midfielders:
ZOM: De Bruyne (Manchester City)
ZDM: Kanté (FC Chelsea)
ZM: Modric (Real Madrid)
Defenders:
LV: Marcelo (Real Madrid)
IV: Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid)
IV: Van Dijk (FC Liverpool)
IV: Varane (Real Madrid)
Goalkeeper:
De Gea (Manchester United)
Which players are coming today? At around 7 PM today, January 7, 2019, the first three players from the TOTY will be available in packs. These are the strikers:
Cristiano Ronaldo
Lionel Messi
Kylian Mbappé
These three players will be available in packs from 7 PM for 24 hours. After that, midfielders will be released, followed by defenders + goalkeeper. Later, the entire TOTY will be in packs.
TOTY 2019 – These strikers were nominated
These were the nominated strikers:
Sergio Aguero (Manchester City)
Edinson Cavani (Paris Saint-Germain)
Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Madrid)
Eden Hazard (FC Chelsea)
Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur)
Robert Lewandowski (FC Bayern München)
Mario Mandzukic (Juventus)
Neymar (Paris Saint-Germain)
Kylian Mbappe (Paris Saint-Germain)
Lionel Messi (FC Barcelona)
Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus)
Luis Suarez (FC Barcelona)
Mohamed Salah (FC Liverpool)
Gareth Bale (Real Madrid)
Sadio Mané (FC Liverpool)
How to get TOTY cards in FUT 19
TOTY cards through packs and transfer market: As soon as the TOTY players are available, you can draw them from packs for a limited time if you are lucky. Special pack offers will be available during this period. Afterwards, it will only be possible to purchase the TOTY players on the transfer market, where they will fetch high prices.
What you need to know about the TOTY cards:
Once the TOTY cards are in the packs, the standard cards of the respective players can no longer be drawn from the packs.
A set must include rare gold players to have a chance at a TOTY player.
If you own a standard card of a TOTY player, nothing happens to that card. If you want a TOTY player, you need to draw it from sets or buy it on the transfer market.
The chances of drawing a TOTY player are exactly the same as the chances of drawing the standard card of the corresponding player at another time.
On Tuesday, the new episode of the Living World will be released in Guild Wars 2. In addition to a map and the progress of the story, players can also look forward to a completely new weapon set. Our author Alexander Leitsch was allowed to take an early look at the new episode and patch.
Season 4 of the Living World is approaching its grand finale. You can tell this immediately when you start the new story. Together with our NPC friends and the dragon lady Aurene, we discover a way to deal harm to the elder dragon Kralkatorrik.
But before we can face the dragon, we first need to gather our troops. And for that, we are heading to a new area.
The new map Thunderhead Peaks
With each new episode of the Living World, a new map is introduced. However, not every one of them meets the players’ expectations. In the past, many of the new maps faced bugs and issues with long-term motivation. However, I have a good feeling about Thunderhead Peaks.
Where is the new map located? Thunderhead Peaks is located in the southern Shiverpeaks. In the snowy mountain landscape, we encounter the dwarves and their ancient ruins. Those who played Guild Wars 1 will recognize many of the old contents.
What can you do on the map? In addition to the usual achievements and hearts quests, there are directly two large meta-events in Thunderhead Peaks:
In the north, we fight against the Marked Ones, the servants of Kralkatorrik, for control of the Stronghold Thunderhead.
In the south, we help the Dredge defend their lands.
As rewards for both events, there are teleportation stones. These allow us to visit dwarven tombs. And it is well known that dwarves are the guardians of great treasures. However, we could not find out what the rewards within the tombs are during our play session.
There wasn’t enough time for that.
The new map currency in Guild Wars 2: With the new map currency “Marked Mass”, players can unlock recipes this time. These belong to a completely new weapon set that is related to the new map.
The new Dragonblood Weapons
The Dragonblood weapons come in two variants. A simple skin with exotic stats can be crafted relatively quickly and cheaply. However, only when you have crafted all 16 Dragonblood weapons will a collection unlock the second version.
The weapons with ascended stats are more expensive but also look better. We have compiled a few examples for you in a gallery:
The legendary Longbow Pharus
If you want to experiment with weapons, you can craft the legendary longbow Pharus in this episode. It requires a lot of wood and ore – just like the other legendary weapons of the second generation.
Additionally, you need to own Heart of Thorns and unlock the corresponding masteries.
You can view the weapon and its associated animations in detail in this video:
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If you’re less interested in new maps and weapons and prefer exploring dungeons or raids, you can look forward to the new fractal “Siren’s Reef”.
This is a secret island hidden somewhere in the mists. On the island, we can expect beaches, ghost pirate ships, and a temple facility with underground passages.
New Instabilities: Fans of fractals can also look forward to new challenges. The so-called instabilities hinder already known fractals through difficult effects or restrictions. Depending on the difficulty, different numbers of instabilities come into play at once.
The patch introduced 12 new instabilities, including:
Fragility:
Players are smaller and have 30% less health but move 25% faster.
Slippery Slope:
All surfaces are smooth. The duration of granted stability is increased by 20%.
Fire in the Blood
Enemies create flaming projectiles when they take damage. The damage taken from conditions is reduced by 20%.
What are fractals? Fractals are small dungeons for 5 players, each available in multiple difficulty levels. You level up fractals by completing higher ones. The highest achievable level is 100. The fractal there is also the most challenging.
Currently, there are 19 different fractals in Guild Wars 2. On your way to level 100, you’ll have to replay some of them. However, as you progress to higher levels, mechanics change, and even familiar locations become more challenging due to the instabilities.
The story of “Everything or Nothing”
I don’t want to reveal too much about the story of the episode. There are a total of 5 chapters, with the first chapter leading players in Guild Wars 2 to the new map.
In chapters two to four, we explore the new map. I haven’t played the fifth chapter myself yet.
However, it seems that there will definitely be a reunion with the elder dragon Kralkatorrik.
What do I need to do to play “Everything or Nothing”?
The new episode of the Living World unlocks automatically when you log into the game.
However, only the currently active episode can be unlocked for free. When the next episode arrives (usually after two to four months), the old one becomes paid. You will then need 400 gems (around 5 Euros) for a past episode.
To be able to play the Living World, the story, and the maps, you also need the Path of Fire expansion.
A FIFA pro has sparked a wave of outrage in FIFA 19 through cheating and time-wasting. His management and the community are not exactly pleased with this.
Time-wasting is a controversial topic in football. Both in reality and in simulations like FIFA 19. As an opponent, you can get really frustrated when the opposing player does everything to drag out the victory.
Pro Artac Sinoplu, or “Arti_Griezmann,” has taken it to the extreme and thus stirred the anger of the community. By using a trick with his goalkeeper, he managed to secure a victory.
Time-wasting scandal through 1:0 victory
What happened? In an online match during the FUT qualifiers, Arti_Griezmann led against a Danish Twitter user “Don Oli” in the 60th minute with 1:0. Instead of continuing to play normally, he apparently decided to take this victory home at all costs.
So he quickly used a trick where he kept passing back to his defender with his goalkeeper, who then headed the ball back to the keeper. This allowed him to completely run down the remaining time of the match.
On top of that, he provoked his opponent with fake goal kicks. His opponent seems to have endured this throughout the remaining match.
Is this already cheating? In itself, this style of play does not violate the rules. No cheat or hack is being used here. Nevertheless, one cannot exactly call this trick a model example of fairness, but rather as unsportsmanlike conduct.
Here are the reactions: His opponent published a characteristic scene from the match via Twitter. There, many other members of the FIFA community reacted with anger. Many voiced their opinions and said they too are “victims” of Arti_Griezmann.
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What does the pro himself say? By now, Artac has apologized for the action. In a message he addresses the community.
Dear FIFA Community,
I want to apologize for my style of play during this FUT qualifier. I understand your anger well. […] I have a strong desire to win and was quite naive to believe that everything was allowed within the rules. […]
I will try to grow not only as a player but also as a person. Arti.
Management reprimands Arti_Griezmann
While Artac Sinoplu apparently does not take the matter too seriously, his management is less thrilled.
“Arti has done a disservice to himself with this action. Although he acted within the rules, he placed his desire to win over the idea of fair play. This does not align with our guidelines and has been sanctioned internally. He has apologized to his opponent, received a yellow card from us, and at 18 years old, has proven that he still has a lot to learn.”
This blunder will likely not harm his career. Shortly thereafter, he signed a contract with Team Rogue, whose investor is the famous DJ Steve Aoki. There, Artac will participate in the Club World Championship alongside other professionals.
Why does this work all of a sudden? Rhyperior and Golem are not new raid bosses, so why can you suddenly defeat them alone? The reason is the change in attack effectiveness. Pokémon that are very effective are now even stronger. This boost helps players to defeat the raid bosses solo.
Defeating Rhyperior and Golem solo – Here’s how to do it
You can take down both Pokémon with the same attacker: Kyogre. However, to defeat them, you must have a very strong team of Kyogres. The players in the videos each have six of the legendary Pokémon at level 40.
Here’s how to defeat Rhyperior: To take down Rhyperior, you need a team of Kyogre and the lobby trick. For this, you create an empty battle team and select it at the start of the fight. You remain in the lobby and can then select your actual team. This way, you skip annoying animations and save a few seconds.
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If it’s raining in your game, then you can defeat Rhyperior a bit easier. Your Kyogre are boosted by the rain. Nonetheless, it’s still very difficult and only strong players can take down Rhyperior alone.
Here’s how to defeat Golem: Golem is somewhat harder to defeat since its defense value is slightly higher than that of Rhyperior. So far, there are only videos on YouTube where Golem can be defeated with weather boost. It has to be raining.
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Again, Kyogre are the only right choice. Without a full team of the legendary Pokémon, you cannot defeat Golem. You also need six of them since you will lose five Kyogre in battle.
Pokémon GO was significantly more successful in 2018 than in the previous year. We reveal why:
The new raid “Battle for Dazar’alor” brings some unique features to World of Warcraft. Your characters will be transformed if they want to experience all the battles.
In about two weeks, on January 23, 2019, the latest raid of World of Warcraft will open its doors. From then on, there will finally be the “main part” of Patch 8.1 Tides of Vengeance to play.
The raid “Battle for Dazar’Alor” runs a little differently than other raids in WoW.
What is different about the Battle of Dazar’Alor? The new raid takes place for the first time in the boiling conflict between Horde and Alliance. Therefore, some fights happen at staggered times, resulting in a different boss order for Horde and Alliance.
While the Alliance is already attacking the harbor, players of the Horde are still unaware of the attack.
Both sides experience all bosses: Nevertheless, both Horde and Alliance players will experience both sides of the conflict and have access to all 9 bosses. However, the order is a bit different.
There is another unique feature. Players from both sides will be transformed into characters of the other faction to experience 3 bosses in a “flashback”.
Who becomes which character? Which race your character transforms into during the flashbacks is not random but predetermined.
The transformations of the Alliance
Draenei transform into Tauren, only mages become Orcs.
Dwarves transform into Orcs. Paladins become Tauren and priests become Undead.
Gnomes transform into Goblins. Monks become Blood Elves.
Humans transform into Undead, paladins become Blood Elves.
Night Elves transform into Trolls. Demon Hunters become Blood Elves instead.
Pandaren remain unchanged as Pandaren.
Worgen exclusively transform into Trolls.
The transformations of the Horde
Blood Elves transform into Humans, only Demon Hunters become Night Elves.
Goblins transform into Gnomes, only hunters and shamans transform into Dwarves.
Orcs all transform into Dwarves.
Pandaren remain unchanged as Pandaren.
Tauren transform into Draenei, only druids become Night Elves.
Trolls transform into Night Elves. Shamans become Draenei, Warlocks become Humans.
Undead all transform into Humans.
New racial bonuses for all: The transformation is not only visual but also brings the corresponding racial abilities of the races with it.
During the duration of the transformation, your character is truly a member of another race. So it’s best to inform yourself in advance about the racial abilities of your transformations to get the most out of the character.
Players have long awaited the announcement. However, on March 4, 2019, it is finally time for the MMORPG Black Desert Online to be released for Xbox One. Pre-order customers can even start before the actual release date.
At the end of 2018, Black Desert developer Pearl Abyss announced that the release date for the Xbox version of the MMO would be revealed in early 2019. A post on the official website of the online game now reveals details about the release.
When does it start? Players can explore Black Desert on Xbox One starting March 4, 2019.
If you pre-order the game, you will receive a head start of between 24 and 72 hours ahead of other players. The more money you invest, the earlier you can start.
The Xbox version launches with less content
This is what to expect at launch: Black Desert will not launch on Xbox One with all the content from the PC version. This will be added gradually to avoid overwhelming new players.
Players will be able to choose from one of six different classes. Currently confirmed are the Warrior, the Ranger, the Sorceress, the Berserker, the Wizard, and the Witch. For comparison, the PC version currently has 17 classes.
You can step away from fighting and dedicate yourself to various life skills, such as fishing, gathering, alchemy, and cooking. Craft powerful items and sell them for more silver.
You can compete with other players in a vast open-world PvP environment. Additionally, you will enjoy the completely revamped main campaign.
Pre-orders start earlier
Players can choose between one of three game editions. The game editions build on each other. So you will receive all content from the cheaper version if you opt for a more expensive one.
The Standard Edition is available from $29.99.
The Deluxe Edition costs $49.99.
And the Ultimate Edition costs $99.99.
Head start advantage is included in all editions: Regardless of which edition you choose, early access is included in all. However, the duration differs. The Standard Edition grants you 24, the Deluxe Edition 48, and the Ultimate Edition 72 hours in head start.
https://youtu.be/0xUkB6HbUsc
Black Desert is a newcomer on consoles. However, it could become a success on Xbox.
The Chinese MOBA Genesis wants to impress on consoles PS4 and Xbox One with Unreal graphics and a science fiction setting. But does anyone still want to play MOBAs?
What is Genesis? Genesis is supposed to be a new MOBA game with Unreal graphics. It is currently being developed by the Chinese studio Shanghai MOBA Network Technology. The game focuses primarily on action-packed battles and a lot of dynamics. The setting is based in the science fiction genre.
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What is special about Genesis? Genesis is expected to offer action-packed battles. There will be three rival factions from which you can choose your heroes. A PvE mode is also planned. This, along with the graphic style, reminds of the now-defunct MOBA mix Master X Master from NCSoft. The game is expected to run on consoles PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in addition to Steam and supports gamepads.
When is Genesis coming? The game has just completed a closed beta. The next testing phase is set to start in March.
Do we still need a MOBA in 2019?
How is Genesis received by players? MOBAs are far from trendy in 2019. While many studios are currently focusing on battle royale, they are trying a MOBA in China. Unfortunately, player interest in the comments under the first trailer seems rather lukewarm.
